How To Add Music to Your Snaps or Stories in Snapchat

One of the coolest features to come to Instagram Stories is the inclusion of music stickers, allowing you to attach snippets of your favorite songs to your story in just a few quick steps. Snapchat has yet to add a similar feature, but with a bit of creativity, you can add songs to your snaps and even link out to Spotify to help share the music you love with your friends. Here’s how to do it.

Add Music from Your Phone

Adding music from your phone to your snaps can be done in two ways–through your phone’s native music app or through a third-party app. The process is almost the same in both cases, so we’ll cover them as one. Here’s how to add music from your phone to your snaps. To start, you’ll want to be in an environment where you can actually play the music from your phone. If you’re in a classroom or a library, this probably isn’t the process for you. Make sure your volume is turned up somewhere between half and two-thirds; turned up to the max will likely distort the volume when being picked up by your microphone.

Launch the music app of your preference.

Browse the music library and find the song you’d like to add to your snap. Tap on it.

Tap the pause button as soon as the song starts to play.

Next, tap the “Home” button to exit the music app but to leave it active in the background. Don’t kill the app.

Tap the “Snapchat” icon to launch the app.

The first thing you’ll see is your camera view. Switch between the front and back camera if you need to.

If you’re using an iOS device, swipe up from the bottom. This will open the Control Center. If you’re on an Android device, you want to swipe down from the top to bring out the Notification Center. In both cases, you will see the song you’ve picked for your snap. Adjust the slider to find the right portion of the song.

Tap the “Play” button to start playing the song.

Close the Control or Notification center when the song starts playing.

You will see the Snapchat recording panel again. Tap and hold the “Record” button near the bottom of the screen to start recording.

Once you’re done, lift your finger from the “Record” button. You will notice that the outer circle of the button is slowly turning red as the seconds pass. When it fills up, the video will stop recording automatically.

Snapchat will play the video for you. The portion of the song that was playing while you were recording will be captured. If you can’t hear the sound, unmute the Snapchat app.

When the playback ends, tap the little arrow icon in the lower right corner of the screen to send your newly made video to your friends.

Pick a name or names from the list of your contacts and tap the check boxes next to their names.

Tap the “Send” button. When they open the snap, your friends will hear the music in the background of the video.

Add Music from a Streaming Service

If you don’t have the song you’d like to use downloaded, you might want to enlist your favorite streaming app or even YouTube. While most streaming apps, such as Spotify and Pandora, can play your music in the background, the free YouTube app can’t. You will need the premium version for that.

Follow these steps to learn how to make snaps with music from your favorite streaming service.

Launch the streaming app of your choice.

Browse the app or your channel and playlists to find the song you want to use for your new snap.

Once you’ve found it, tap the “Play” button.

Next, tap the “Pause” button to stop the song as soon as it starts.

Leave the app, but don’t kill it.

Locate the Snapchat icon and tap on it to launch the app.

Like in the previous method, you will see the camera screen when the app opens. Select the camera you want to use and adjust the lighting.

If you’re using an iPhone, swipe up to bring out the Control Center. On an Android device, swipe down from the top to open the Notification Center.

Move the slider around to find the part of the song you want to use and tap the “Play” button.

Exit the Control or Notification Center.

Press and hold the “Record” button to start recording your snap.

To stop recording, lift your finger from the “Record” button.

Once the recording stops, Snapchat will immediately play the video.

When the video ends, tap the “Send” icon in the lower right corner.

Browse your contacts and mark the ones you want to share the snap with.

Tap “Send”.

Final Thoughts

Background music will make your snaps cooler and give a whole new dimension to your one-on-one and group chats. Use the methods described in this article to add a soundtrack to your snaps like a pro.